The construction industry has conceived of a number of artificial paving stones for use as a surface for streets and walkways and the intent is to provide a less expensive alternative to cobblestones which were used extensively in the last century. Individual stones ae considered to be esthetically superior to concrete slabs or asphalt; it is cetainly true that with differential settling, a concrete slab will crack and this could be unsightly.
Many of the original cobblestone streets still remain as built or they have been repaired extensively. Cobblestone streets and walkways have a certain artistic appeal and there are nostalgic feelings associated with them by many people. However, they are not the most easy surfaces to maintain nor are they the most comfortable to drive on or to walk on. Original cobblestones tend to be non-uniform in thickness and size and do not usually have a flat upper surface nor even a rounded one of suitable smoothness for ease of walking.
For the most part the construction industry has not tried to simulate cobblestones for the aforementioned reasons. The intent of most of the manufactured paving stones is to provide an interlocking mechanism of some sort to prevent lateral and/or vertical displacement of one stone relative to another and to provide a flat upper surface to the resulting street or walkway. The prior art is filled with hexagonal, undulating, interlocking, overlapping, bridging, "Z" and innumerable other shaped paving stones to provide decorative as well as stable structures. The idea of an imitation paving stone having an interlocking feature is not new, per se. However, I have invented an artificial paving stone which I believe to be unique and useful and it has a certain esthetical appeal, in that, it provides walkways or driving surfaces which give the appearance of being of cobblestones but the resulting walkway has a relatively flat upper bearing surface to minimize the rather bumpy surface of conventional cobblestones.